JUDGMENT

KURIAN, J.

1. Whether the land which is not a private forest as defined under The Kerala Private Forest (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971 can be brought under the teeth of The Kerala Preservation of Trees Act, 1986, is the moot questions arising for consideration in these cases.

2. The Kerala Private Forest (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971 (hereafter referred to as the Vesting and Assignment Act) was enacted to provide for the vesting in the Government of private forest in the State of Kerala and for the assignment thereof to agriculturists and agricultural labourers for cultivation. It is stated in the preamble that private forest in the State of Kerala are agricultural lands and that the government wanted to utilize such agricultural lands so as to increase agricultural production and promote welfare of the agricultural production in the State. It may be noted that private forest were exempted from the purview of The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963, in the matter of ceiling.

3. Private forest has been defined under Section 2(f) of the Vesting and Assignment Act. The provision reads as follows :

'2(f) private forest means

(1) in relation to the Malabar district referred to in